The temperatures are rising, birds are singing, daffodils are blooming and bees are pollinating. It is that time of year when folks are taking inventory and as a legal nurse consultant (LNC), that means that I am exploring ways to assess my practice, take stock of where I am and use my internal GPS to move forward in 2023. Spring is the perfect time for LNCs to examine their business and consider ways to refresh and renew their approach. These are a few tips that I have used throughout my clinical career, to get started:
- Revisit your goals: Take a fresh look at your business goals and consider whether they still align with your overall vision for your career. If not, it may be time to revise or update them.
- Assess your services: Consider which services you offer and whether they are still relevant and valuable to your clients. If not, it may be time to expand or adjust your offerings. Do you practice as a single entity? Are you are toying with the idea of expanding and taking on one or two subcontractors? Do you practice across a broad scope or perhaps you are contemplating delving into a niche area. Go ahead and try a new approach!
- Connect with colleagues: Spring is a great time to network with other legal nurse consultants and healthcare professionals. Attend conferences, join online communities, and reach out to colleagues for advice and support. Joining the SIGS has been one of my best decisions, I look forward to my daily email summaries of ‘What’s new?” I find myself looking for the names of individuals I have come to respect, who make a practice of advising colleagues.
- Update your marketing: Refresh your website, update your social media profiles, and consider new marketing strategies to reach potential clients. I never had a website and I incorporated that build out in my spring plans this year. So excited and it provides me with my own forum to share my thoughts with my friends and colleagues. It helps when your husband is a tech guru who builds websites, including the very first IRS website!
- Invest in education: Keep your skills and knowledge up to date by attending webinars, workshops, and other educational events. This can help you stay current with changes in the healthcare industry and provide better service to your clients. As a lifelong learner, I make it a practice to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way to learn something new, in legal nurse consulting and beyond. After all, being an LNC is my profession but I am so much more. I am a Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse for forty years and I love gardening, reading, traveling, being the ‘concierge’ of my community of barn cats and best of all, being a roadie for my husband’s band!
By taking these steps and embracing the spirit of renewal that comes with spring, we can rejuvenate our practice and take our careers to the next level. You owe it to yourself!
Cynthia Sylvia, legal nurse consultant, is a Certified Wound Care Nurse with 42 years of clinical expertise. With a Doctorate in Nursing and an MSc in Wound Healing, Cindy is a former VP of Clinical Affairs, an honorary lecturer at Cardiff University and a published author and international speaker.